Best New Artist

This category is one of the most important categories, giving rising artists exposure to larger audiences and key industry figures. It celebrates up-and-coming artists with the most potential.

Past winners include superstars such as The Beatles (1965), Mariah Carey (1991) and Adele (2009) and, more recently, Billie Eilish (2020), Olivia Rodrigo (2022) and Chappell Roan (2025) – all clear signs of the award’s prestige.

This year’s nominees are Olivia Dean; KATSEYE; The Marías; Addison Rae; Sombr; Leon Thomas; Alex Warren; and Lola Young. While some nominations are spot-on (KATSEYE and The Marías), others feel less deserved (Sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and Lola Young). My personal picks would be Olivia Dean or Addison Rae.

Olivia Dean went viral on TikTok with ‘Man I Need’ and she opened for Sabrina Carpenter’s massive Short n’ Sweet tour. Her album, The Art of Loving, is fantastic; it topped the UK charts and reached no. 5 in the US. My favourites tracks are ‘I’ve Seen It’ and ‘A Couple Minutes.’ Her soulful sound and 1970s-reminiscent stage performances make her very deserving of a win.

@gcinnyc Woman of the year @Olivia Dean at Madison Square Garden #manineed #oliviadean ♬ original sound – gcinnyc

My other top choice is Addison Rae. Although she had released music before – including her 2023 collaboration with Charli xcx, ‘2 die 4’ – it was her viral single ‘Diet Pepsi’ that marked her shift from TikTok influencer to successful artist in August 2024.

Her debut album, Addison, shows her true talent and was a highlight of the year for me. The accompanying 31-stop tour brought her vision into life, full of pop-icon references, specifically Britney Spears, and solidified her as someone who could take home the award.

@kellyconcerts In the rain choreo😮‍💨🌧️ #addisonraetour #addisonraemanchester #addisonraeconcert #addisonraedancing #addisonraelive ♬ original sound – K 🎧💞

Also, I would have loved to see Role Model nominated. Several songs from his album Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye), such as ‘Old Recliners’ and ‘Superglue’ made a notable impact, but the real highlight was ‘Sally, When the Wine Runs Out’. At his live performances, he brought celebrities or fans on stage to be ‘Sally’, and with artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Charli xcx and Conan Gray taking part, the song drew significant attention.

Song of the Year

The Song of the Year category is often confused with Record of the Year, but the two reward quite different things. The first recognises the songwriters who composed and wrote a song, while the second is given to the singers and producers.

The nominees for 2026 are ‘Abracadabra’ by Lady Gaga; ‘Anxiety’ by Doechii; ‘APT.’ by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars; Bad Bunny’s ‘DtMF’; HUNTR/X’s ‘Golden’ (from K-Pop Demon Hunters); Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s collaboration ‘luther’; Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Manchild’; and ‘WILDFLOWER’ by Billie Eilish.

The nature of this category makes me feel that some songs (‘APT.’, ‘DtMF’, ‘luther’) should not be included, as they all have six or more writers other than the singer(s) themselves.

Narrowing the list further, ‘WILDFLOWER’ appears on Eilish’s 2024 album Hit Me Hard and Soft, which was nominated for multiple awards at the 2025 Grammys. A song from last year’s album doesn’t make sense – so, despite being a great record, it doesn’t make my list.

‘Golden’ and ‘Anxiety’ definitely deserve their nominations, but they don’t stand out enough to win. Meanwhile, ‘Abracadabra and Manchild’ have both been on repeat not only for me but all of social media during the year.

I couldn’t name a more fun and witty song from this year than ‘Manchild’ – the catchy chorus and country nod soundtracked the summer. While it might not have been as massive a success as last year’s ‘Espresso’, this song further solidified Carpenter’s pop-hit-making ability.

@realryanmcc Sabrina Carpenter’s amazing voice and dance at the end of “ Manchild “ Live in New York Night 1 😍 #sabrinacarpenter ♬ original sound – Ryan McCormick

Rolling Stone named it the best song released this year, with other iconic publications such as Billboard having it in their top 3.

@ramongllardo A-bracadabra, Abracadabra🖤 @ladygaga #ladygaga #coachella #gagachella #abracdabra #concierto #fyp #parati ♬ sonido original – ☆ ★ RG★ ☆

Record of the Year

This award celebrates “overall achievement”, meaning mainly the “performance, production and engineering”. Where Song of the Year focuses on songwriting, this is more of a holistic evaluation.

This year’s nominees overlap greatly with Song of the Year – ‘DtMF’, ‘Manchild’, ‘Anxiety’, ‘WILDFLOWER’, ‘Abracadabra’, ‘luther’, and ‘APT.’ – with only ‘The Subway’ by Chappel Roan nominated here and not in the previous category.

I would discount ‘WILDFLOWER’ for the same reason as above. Also ‘APT.’ because the live performances didn’t leave a lasting impact and the production doesn’t compensate, despite it being a hit. Every other song from this list has seen amazing live performances, but for me none of them comes out as number one.

My personal favourite is ‘What Was That’ by Lorde. The single marked the beginning of a new era for the singer, with her highly anticipated fourth album, Virgin, coming out this year. The song’s hard-hitting and synth-driven production and live performance make it the winner – so I wish it had been on the list.

Album of the Year

While a nomination in any of the “big four” categories is a grand achievement, there is no bigger honour in the music industry than winning Album of the Year. Rather than a celebration of an individual artist or song, this award is given to a whole body of work.

My additions to this list would be Lorde’s Virgin and Addison Rae’s debut album Addison. The production on Virgin is extremely interesting and unique. It is a vulnerable and raw album that reveals complex struggles and an authentic, creative identity; songs like ‘If She Could See Me Now’ and ‘Broken Glass’ are especially hard-hitting.

Listening to Addison is such a privilege. Not only are the singles from the album exceptional, but the deeper cuts (such as ‘Times Like These’ and ‘Only in the Rain’ ) are also great. Her uniqueness lies in her “camp” knowledge of pop history – she shows that not only does she create music for the culture, but she is very aware of that culture.

Thankfully, my number one album has gotten nominated this year, and that is Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM. I have not stopped playing this album since its release, and my appreciation for it grows with each listen. What makes it so distinctive is that it combines vulnerable writing with heavy production in a way that only Gaga could. Though there are sonic similarities to her earlier albums such as The Fame Monster and Born This Way, her evolution as an artist, performer, writer and person is clear.

The Grammys are the biggest awards in music, so of course it is difficult to satisfy everyone’s expectations and music tastes. I chose to do this ranking for fun because I love music and I like to be both critic and fan. My knowledge only goes so far, though, and I’m no authority on these choices.

As someone who hopes to be part of this industry one day, I respect and admire the voters of the Recording Academy who make these choices, and cannot wait for the 2026 ceremony.